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FLORENCE, AZ — The Pinal County Board of Supervisors began 2017 with a public hearing for a potential land purchase for economic development purposes.
The public hearing, mandated by Arizona State Statue, was to discuss and take public input on a bond package that would facilitate a purchase of land west of Casa Grande that would be utilized or leased for future industrial, manufacturing, distribution or similar activities and projects.
County Manager Greg Stanley testified before the Board that this move comes in anticipation for a development agreement with Lucid Motors.
“What we want to do is tee everything up so we’ll be ready to go when Lucid is ready to go,” Stanley said. “One thing I want to make perfectly clear is that there is no proposal to increase property taxes or sales taxes in our county in order to do this.”
The Supervisors will not pass a resolution on a bonding package until there is a development agreement in place. That development agreement would have to be approved by the Board of Supervisors, the City of Casa Grande and Lucid Motors.
The county plans to enter into a short term lease before selling to the company. It was also stressed that the company buying the land would be responsible for improvements made to the property.
“I know the public is anxious to see the development agreement,” Stanley said. “Right now it is still in the negotiation phase. We certainly want to be transparent when that is ready to be shared.”
The bonding package would be approximately $30 million with a possibility of a 5.9 percent interest rate, although that will not be finalized until the development agreement is signed.
Supervisor Comments:
Pinal County Supervisor Anthony Smith
“I want to assure people that my actions in these next four years will be to continue to aggressively pursue economic development. Bringing good paying jobs to the area while not increasing either the property tax or sales tax. I also have a goal to complete all economic development transactions for this particular project, and all future projects will be completed within our current budget capacity without raising the property tax or sales tax.” – Vice Chairman Anthony Smith
Pinal County Supervisor Pete Rios
“As I learned in the legislature, the devil is in the details. The development agreement that is currently being worked on, will show us the details for us to make sure the county is offered some protections in terms of the investment. I, like many of you, await the development agreement to see how that looks. From what I am hearing, it seems to be pretty positive.”
-Supervisor Pete Rios
Pinal County Supervisor Steve Miller
“I see this as an opportunity. I think one of the misconceptions out there is how these bonds are going to be executed. They will be put on the market and private investors will be spending the money to buy the bonds for a return. This will be an investment by individuals that look at opportunity. I have pursued economic development hard throughout my political career. These opportunities don’t come around that often. I see this as an opportunity for Pinal County to better its quality of life. I am obligated not to raise anyone’s property taxes or sales taxes. That was direction given to staff right from the beginning on how this was to be executed.” -Supervisor Steve Miller
“I made a commitment to my constituents that I would not vote for any increase in the property tax or sales tax. I have an obligation to keep that commitment. This is a process that I am going through as the public is. When we are looking at this development agreement we will be look at this together. I am committed to making sure the public tax dollar is protected.” -Supervisor Mike Goodman
Pinal County Board of Supervisors Chairman Todd House
“We know that raising property taxes or sales taxes is illegal to raise money for this project. What I would like to say, is when this development agreement comes out, I would expect everyone to pay good attention to it. We would like your comments when the development agreement is publicized, so we can have some feedback on the details. This board has been one of the most driven when it comes to economic development in the history of Pinal County. This is the preliminary stages of this agreement, we won’t be raising property taxes or sales taxes. We will make sure the people of Pinal County are covered by this agreement.” -Chairman Todd House
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